Improvement in feather-renovators



T. E. LIVESEY. Feather-Renovatdr.

No. 212,714. Patent edFeb. 25', 1379.

ANVENTOR @625? WITNESSES:

ATTORNEYS.

- NPEI'ERS, FHOTO-UTHOGRMBHER. WASHINGTON, D. C.

UNITED STATES THOMAS E. LIVESEY, OF ASHLEY, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TOHIMSELF AND JAMES W. HUDSON, OF SAME PLACE.

IMPROVEMENT IN FEATHER-RENOVATORS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 212,714,

dated February 25, 1879 application filed November 22, 1878.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS EVAN LIVE- SEY, of Ashley, in the county ofWVashington and State of Illinois, have invented anew and usefulImprovement in Feather-Benovators, of which the following is aspecification:

Figure l is a vertical longitudinal section of my improved machine. Fig.2 is a vertical cross-section of the same. Fig. 3 is an end view of thesame, shown in position for disehargin g the feathers.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts. I

The object of this invention is to furnish an improved machine forsteaming and drying feathers to purify and renovate them, which shall besimple in construction, convenient in use, and effective in operation,doing its work thoroughly and quickly. I

A is the base-frame of the machine, to the ends of which are attachedtwo V-shaped frames, B, having notches or half-bearings in their anglesto receive the gudgeons O, attached to the ends of the frame of thedoublewalled semi-cylindrical drum D. The doublewalled drum D has asmall chamber or pan, (1', in its lower part, between the walls of thesaid drum, and the inner wall over the said pan is cut away and replacedby a wire-gauze or perforated sheet-metal screen, (2 to allow the dustand other impurities from the feathers to settle into the pan (1, and todistribute the steam evenly through all parts of the feathers.- Thespaces between the walls of the drum D, upon the opposite sides of thesaid drum, communicate with each other beneath the bottom of the pan dor at its end. The pan (1 is cleaned through an opening in the end ofthe drum D, which opening is closed by a slide, (1 In the end of thedrum D are formed two holes to receive steam-pipesone, (Z, to introducesteam into the pan (1* for steaming the feathers, and the other, (Z forintroducing steam into the space between the walls of the said drum Dfor drying the feathers. Upon the frame of the drum D is placed arectangular box, E, which is hinged at its rear side to the said drum,and secured at its forward side by straps, hooks, or other convenientfastenin gs. The adjacent edges of the box E and drum D are notched toreceive and form bearings for the journals of the shaft F. To the shaftF, within the box E and drum D, is attached a reel, G, by which thefeathers are constantly agitated while being operated upon. One of thejournals of the shaft F project, and has a crank, H, attached to it, bymeans of which it is rotated.

In the forward part of the top of the box E is formed a large opening,in which is hinged a frame, 0 The frame 0 has a wire-gauze screen, 0attached to its inner side, and to its outer side is hinged acovering-plate, e. In the forward side of the box E is formed a largeopening, which is closed by a slide, 0, and in which is secured a spout,6 to which the tick or sack is secured to receive the feathers when dry.In the rear side of the box E are formed openings, in which are hingedframes 6 having wire-gauze screens e attached to their inner sides, andplates a hinged to their outer sides. In the ends of the box E areformed openings, in which are secured wire-gauze screens 6 and which areclosed by plates e hinged to the said ends of the said box E.

To the center of the rear side of the box E is rigidly attached theupper part of a lever, I, the lower end of which. enters the slot of aslotted bar, J, attached to the base-frame A, where it is secured inplace bya through it and through the said slotted bar J.

To the center of the rear bar of the baseframe A is rigidly attached thelower end of an upright bar, L, which is slotted longitudinally for thelower end of the lever I to pass through when the apparatus is tilted todischarge the feathers. The lower end of the lever I is secured to theslotted bar L by the pin K, to hold the apparatus securely in placewhile discharging the feathers.

In using the renovator, the feathers are introduced through the openingin the top of the box E, and steam is introduced into the pan d, andpasses through the screen d? into the mass of feathers, the saidfeathers being constantly agitated by the revolution of the reel G.

Then the feathers have been sufficiently steamed the steam is shut offand introduced pin, K, passed into the space between the shells of thedrum 1), the covering-plates of the openings in the box E are turnedback to allow the steam to escape, and the reel G is rotated until thefeathers are thoroughly dried.

When the feathers are dry the apparatus is adjusted with the spout adownward, the tick or sack to receive the feathers is attached to thesaid spout c and the reel G is revolved, forcing the feathers into thesaid tick or sack.

M is the steam-pipe, the end of which is to be introduced into one orthe other of the holes d W, according as the feathers are to be steamedor dried. The other end of the steampipe M is connected with'the top ofthe boiler N. The lower part of the boiler N is made with double walls,to form afire-box, O, which I is thus surrounded bythe water-chamber.The

boiler N is designed to be placed over a grate to allow the ashes tofall out, and fuel is introduced into the fire-chamber 0 through anopening through the double-walled lower part of the said boiler, whichopening is closed by a door, a.

The smoke and other products of combustion pass out through thesmokepipeP, which passes through the top of the fire-chamber 0, throughthe water-space in the boilerN, above the said fire-chamber, and outthrough the wall of the said boiler.

Q is the feed-pipe, which passes down along the side of the upper partof the boiler N, and enters the said boilerbelow low-water mark, and ator near the upper part of the fire-chamber O. The upper end of the pipeQ is made funnel-shaped for convenience in introducing the water.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent- The combination of the rigid lever I and the slottedbars J L with the drum D, the box E, and the base-frame A, substantiallyas herein shown and described.

THOMAS EVAN LIVESEY.

Witnesses:

S. E. OATTERLIN, GEO. L. COURTNEY.

